Writing a sound technical design document

When we start a project, there are two documents that we generally rely on. The first document is a game design document, and the second is a technical design document. The technical design document should list the key features and high-level architecture of the key features. This system is changing rapidly though, with the advent of indie games. However, in a large-scale gaming studio, this process is still valid.

Getting ready

You need to have a working Windows machine.

How to do it…

In this recipe, we will see how easy it is to create a technical design document:

1. Open an editor of your choice, preferably Microsoft Word.
2. List the key technical components of the game.
3. Create a data flow diagram to represent the flow of data between various components of the engine.
4. Create a flowchart to explain the logic of a certain complex section.
5. Write pseudocode for the sections that are key to the development of the game.

How it works…

Once the key components...